When you were a child you dreamed of seeing the world and living a life of adventure. Life does not always allow for everyone to live their dreams, so you lived a more common life with more reasonable dreams. You have worked decades at a craft or art and you made a living for quite some time.
You have the experience of having been one of the common folk. The life of a simple artisan or guild-crafter is not foreign or strange to you. You know all about hard work, and it was even harder back in your day. You had done enough to hang up your tools or supplies and take it easy, but now something has pushed you out of your retired lifestyle and out into that world you always dreamed about as a child, if you can even remember how to dream that big again.
- Skill Proficiencies: Insight, History
- Tool Proficiencies: One set of artisan's tools
- Languages: One additional common trade language
- Equipment: A set of traveler's clothes with a nice, warm sweater, A set of artisan's tools associate from your prior profession, Proof of your former life (A trinket from your prior trade, a 5 year old receipt of guild dues paid, or a letter of lifetime achievement from the Mayor of your hometown), A small pouch filled with hard candy no longer made, and a pouch containing 15 gp.
These young people today don't appreciate how things were back in your day. You do your best not to remind them of it constantly, but sometimes it gets the better of you.
| d6 | Favorite Feature of your Generation |
|---|---|
| 1 | We just worked harder. Stopping for a break meant someone else would steal your food! |
| 2 | We were civilized. Everyone spoke formally to everyone, all the time. Children to their parents and parents to their children! |
| 3 | We respected everyone regardless of what plane they were from. Well, except for the one. You know the one I mean. |
| 4 | Everything was cheaper. A gallon of goat's milk cost one and a half copper. You had to carry around smithing tools to make exact change. |
| 5 | You could trust people. If you wanted to wander off with a man in a dark robe with a skull for a face, you just did. He had probably been in the war. |
| 6 | Music and art were just better. You had to buy lute strings individually, so it took years to actually be able to afford to play a whole melody, but it made you appreciate it. |
You have a network of connections and inside knowledge from a full life and career prior to adventuring. Some of them may not be as friendly as others, but they all respect you and your trade skill and knowledge. You are not necessarily still in good standing with any professional guild or guilds, but you know the ins and outs of your craft and you know how to run a business, and have some renown outside of your hometown.
You have a network of contacts based on the profession you retired from who may also have moved to a new place or changed their profession, but they would not be where they are today if not for you, so they will offer you assistance when and where they can while you are off "adventuring." In particular you have a single primary contact who will offer you assistance when they are able.
Suggested Characteristics
Retirees have already accomplished professional or personal goals in the first half or more of their lives and now they're ready to take some time for themselves. They may have spent a lifetime in pursuit of one set of goals only to have a change of heart in later years or they may have raised a family and now have a reason to go out exploring and seeing the world. Often they are set to a different type of self-discovery or looking to make one last attempt to do all the things they said they were going to up until now.
| d8 | Personality Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | I have a list of things I want to do before I die, and am looking to check things off. |
| 2 | I have a joke for every occasion, often based on simple puns and wordplay, especially occasions where humor is inappropriate. |
| 3 | I always want to know how things work and how they were made. |
| 4 | I am nervous about new experiences and sometimes hesitant about trying new things. |
| 5 | I often tell people how I think they should do things, or how I would have done something. |
| 6 | I love telling stories about my youth and my experiences in my past profession. |
| 7 | I am deeply faithful to my chosen deity. I pray first thing in the morning, last thing and night and several times throughout the day. |
| 8 | I often keep insignificant items or trinkets because "you never know when you might need it." |
| d6 | Ideal |
|---|---|
| 1 | Independence. No one is going to stop me from doing what I want to do, not matter my age. (Chaotic) |
| 2 | Traditional. The old ways are the best ways. There's a reason they have worked this long. (Lawful) |
| 3 | People. I have spent my life in the service of my fellows and I do not intend to stop now. (Neutral) |
| 4 | Greed. I have spent enough time working so that other people can have their desires, it is time for me to get what I deserve. (Evil) |
| 5 | Respect. Dignity and Respect is undervalued in the world today, and I intend to set a better example. (Good) |
| 6 | Self-Discovery. It is time for me to go out and see the rest of the world, so that I can finally find my place in it. (Any) |
| d6 | Bond |
|---|---|
| 1 | I left my home because people are looking for me there, I have made some enemies over a lifetime. |
| 2 | I helped to build or create something that I regret. I know that on my journey I may have to atone for my part in bringing it into being. |
| 3 | Somewhere out there, I have a child who doesn’t know me. I’m making the world better for him or her. |
| 4 | My life savings was stolen and I intend to find the people who robbed me. |
| 5 | A powerful person killed someone I love. Some day soon, I’ll have my revenge. |
| 6 | My tools are symbols of my past life, and I carry them so that I will never forget my roots. |
| d6 | Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | I often hear veiled insults and threats and am quick to anger over these personal sleights. |
| 2 | I have spent my entire life playing it safe. Now it is time to enjoy some dangerous living... |
| 3 | I am often taken in by charlatans and confidence men. |
| 4 | I love to gossip. The juicier the secret, the better. |
| 5 | I hate spending money and am always bartering or asking for senior discounts. |
| 6 | I am slow to trust those younger than me. |
Contacts
You have a lifetime of professional connections who act as your liaisons to a network of other retirees. You how to get messages to and from your contacts, even over great distances; specifically, you know where many of them have retired to, the locations of their preferred vacation spots, and the names of the merchants who arrange their travel affairs.
Choose one primary professional contact, or roll on the contact table.
| d6 | Contact |
|---|---|
| 1 | Your old business partner, who now travels with their spouse |
| 2 | The merchant who bought your business but you still check in on |
| 3 | Your mentor, who is now very old, nearly infirm, but incredibly wise |
| 4 | The guildmaster of your old guild, who now runs a traveling vocational school |
| 5 | Your old black market contact, also retired, who is just trying to move on with their life |
| 6 | Your former lover/spouse, who bought you out of your business, and with whom you are on polite but terse terms |
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